WTAM Local News

The trial of John Wise to begin

(Summit County) - Jury selection begins Monday in the murder trial of a man charged with fatally shooting his debilitated wife in her hospital bed at Akron General Medical Center last year.

The attorney for John Wise, of Massillon expects him to testify at the Akron trial and tell jurors about the heartbreak he felt over wife Barbara suffering triple cerebral aneurysms and being left unable to speak.

The 68-year-old Wise has been under house arrest since last year. He could face life in prison if convicted of the aggravated murder of his wife of 45 years.

John Wise's home, where he has been under house arrest(Photo by Ken Robinson/WTAM).

Attorney Paul Adamson says Wise wants the jury's understanding, not sympathy, in what friends have called a mercy killing.